Taking Care
by paperclip tiara
Summary: SoraXRiku. Sora works at a daycare, where a new troubled child is causing concern. Little does he know what he'll find when he looks for the source of the trouble.
1. Chapter 1

Sora pinned up the last drawing to the bulletin board. The front hall of the Little Acorn Daycare Center was a large mosaic of the various drawings scribbled by its toddler inhabitants. Monsters, dogs, and countless colored blobs stared back at Sora, filling his heart with pride. Maybe they weren't his kids, but Sora loved every child who attended Little Acorn. Placing the pins back behind the front desk, Sora walked back to the main playroom.

The room roared with the combined sounds of children playing. Toys that had lined the wall just that morning were scattered around the floor, and the room buzzed with perpetual motion. Sora delighted in the noise, each tinkering laugh bringing a smile to his face. There was something about the innocence of children that Sora loved, the way their minds worked in ways completely different from adults. Child psychology was by far Sora's favorite class at Radiant Gardens University, were he studied human anthropology and child development.

Scanning the room, Sora's eyes fell on a small silver-haired boy sitting in a corner. His little green eyes stared out at the room, seemingly watching everything going on. Sora frowned. He had noticed him earlier today, but it was the boy's first day at the daycare, so Sora had thought he'd just let the boy come out on his own; he could just be shy. What bothered Sora, though, was that the boy was just sitting there. He wasn't playing by himself, or even looking over at the toys. He only sat, arms wrapped around his knees, staring out at the room with wide eyes. Sora made his mind up to go over and talk to the boy.

Strolling over, Sora lowered himself down the boy's level. _Hello, my name is __**Kadaj**_ a bright nametag announced from the boys chest. Sora smiled brightly, drawing the boy's gaze.

"Hi Kadaj, my name is Sora" he said gently. Kadaj stared at Sora with no reply, eyes still as round as saucers. "How are you doing? Do you like it here?"

Again, Kadaj remained silent. Not that Sora had expected much; a nervous child on his first day wasn't usually prone to jabbering away. Sora merely smiled and continued.

"Would you like to play with some toys?" Sora grabbed a nearby truck, rolling it on the ground in demonstration, making "vroom" noises as he pushed it along. Kadaj stared, but made no move to uncurl and examine the plastic truck. Sora placed the truck next to Kadaj, giving a smile and a small "Here." He then walked away to deal with the rest of the room. To his dismay, Sora never saw Kadaj touch the toy, both truck and child in the same positions at the end of the day.

Over the next week, Sora kept an eye on Kadaj. Each day, Sora would try and encourage Kadaj to play with the toys, or with the other children. Each day, Kadaj would do nothing but stare out at the room, watching without really seeing anything. It troubled Sora to not see the child adjusting, and he decided to take action.

Skipping up to the front desk, Sora fell into a chair beside the receptionist, Naminé. "Hi Nami!" he chirped. Naminé smiled at Sora, prey to his enthusiasm as much as anyone.

"Hi Sora. What's up?" the blond replied.

"I was wondering, " Sora began, "if I could talk to Kadaj's parents."

"The new boy?" Naminé asked.

Sora nodded. "He's been here over a week, but he's having a really hard time adjusting. He just sits there all day, and I'm worried about him. I want to talk to his parents to see if I can figure out if there's something wrong with the little guy. Could you just let me know when one of them comes to pick Kadaj up, so I can come up and speak to them? "

"Sure thing Sora" Naminé replied, admiring Sora's commitment and concern that he'd always shown towards the kids. Sora had been working part time at the daycare for the entire time he'd been at the University, and from the very beginning, he'd always put extra effort into making sure each child was happy and well adjusted. Sora couldn't help it; it was his nature to try and comfort people.

Later that afternoon, Naminé came back into the playroom and tapped Sora's shoulder, motioning to bring Kadaj up to the front for pick up. Sora smiled and thanked her, going over to collect Kadaj. The boy was drooped over in a fast sleep, adorable as he let a little drool slide down his face. Sora wiped Kadaj's chin off, picking him up to carry to the front desk, since it didn't seem like he was going to wake up.

Sora stopped short as he rounded the corner. _Kadaj, if you end up looking like you father, you are gonna be a stud muffin._ Kadaj's father stood behind the desk, the fluorescent light combined with the setting sun spilling through the window making his silver hair shine in an almost angelic way. He was taller than Sora, lean but muscled. His eyes were not the same green as Kadaj's, but more of a sea green or aquamarine, and… they looked dead. Tired. The man behind the desk looked absolutely exhausted.

Sora continued towards the man, shifting Kadaj to one arm. He was about to extend a hand in greeting, when the man reached his arms out for Kadaj. Sora transferred the sleeping child into the waiting man's arms, before smiling brightly.

"Hello, I'm Sora." he said, extending his hand.

The other man sighed, his tired features blank.

"Riku." He shook Sora hand weakly.

"You must be Kadaj's father." Sora said brightly, trying to make a slight joke by stating the obvious.

Riku's eye twitched. "No." he stated simply.

Sora blinked. There was definite resemblance between the man and the child in his arms, their long silver hair, which wasn't common in the first place, being the most obvious. Perhaps this was a family member then, picking up Kadaj as a favor. He certainly didn't look comfortable holding Kadaj, but if Naminé had let him through, then Sora was sure he was allowed to take Kadaj home.

"Oh! Sorry. Um, do you know a way I could talk to Kadaj's parents? See, I'm a little wor-"

"No." Riku stated angrily, cutting Sora off. His face was furious as he turned and stormed out the front door.

Sora blinked, speechless. What was that? What had he said to provoke such a response? Sora had no idea, nor could Naminé come up with an explanation when he explained the encounter.

Sora brought Kadaj up to the front the next day, only to see the disgruntled Riku character there again. Unwilling to exchange any dialogue with the hostile man, Sora had simply handed Kadaj over. Impatient, Sora decided again to take things into his own hands. Waiting for Naminé to take a bathroom break, he snuck over to the large filing cabinet behind the front desk and pulled out Kadaj file. Later that evening, back in his apartment, Sora pulled out the file to read.

Instead of finding a contact sheet for Kadaj's parents, what Sora found was a sad story.

A/N: Just a teaser of my first piece. Would be extremely grateful for any kind of feed back, on the writing, concept, or otherwise.


	2. Chapter 2

Riku hurried along the streets toward his apartment, the child in his arms growing heavier and heavier. Shifting Kadaj in his arms once more, Riku trudged on, eager to get home and put everything down. The little boy he was carrying was fast asleep, drooling adorably onto Riku's shoulder.

_Adorably. Right._ Riku thought, hiking the child up once again. The little bugger seemed to get heavier with every step. Not that Riku couldn't handle it, but the extra weight didn't make the trek home any easier, and his precious package was dampening his shoulder in a way that was decidedly uncomfortable. The duo finally reached their apartment complex, where Riku took a moment to pause and curse the gods, who had made him so poor as to have to rent a fifth story walk up. Riku took a deep breath, resigning himself to his fate as he began to haul the child up the stairs.

When he reached the top, Riku managed to get the door open without any mishaps, and collapsed on the couch. Kadaj didn't budge. Envying the child's ability to sleep through the journey, Riku laid the boy down next to him on the couch. Kadaj didn't move, seemingly out for the count. Riku sighed. The kid was a heavy sleeper, but would inevitably be up at the crack of dawn tomorrow. Riku wondered if it was worth the resulting tantrum to wake him up and feed him dinner, or if letting Kadaj go to be without it would be considered cruel. Riku sighed again, flopping over on the couch. He didn't know. He didn't know how to be a good parent, how to take care of a child. He had only had Kadaj for three weeks now, and this baptism by fire parenting wasn't helping him out.

Seph would know what to do. It had always been Riku's older brother who was the caretaker, the protector. It had been Sephiroth who had taken Riku away from their abusive alcoholic father and had raised him from the age of 13. Seph who had sacrificed so much to make sure they had shelter and food and a future. Seph who had protected him from every bully and danger Riku had faced. Sephiroth had been built to be a good father, despite his cold outward attitude and intimidating demeanor. When he had gotten married, he had boasted about the huge family he was going to have, with the white picket fence and all the security the two of them never had growing up.

Riku glanced over again at Kadaj. The little two year old looked so much like his father. True, he had the same silver hair as Riku, a trait he and his brother shared, but his green eyes were unmistakably Seph's, and the strong facial structure that was hidden behind his still chubby cheeks would make Kadaj the splitting image of his father when he grew up. It was too bad that all he would ever see were the few precious pictures that remained of Sephiroth. Riku stared at the blank ceiling as he recalled those events that seemed so long ago, and at the same time, as if they had happened five minutes ago.

Riku hadn't been keeping up with his brother very well in the last few years. Busy with university and his part time job, Riku never seemed to have time to go out and visit. True, he had been out for the wedding, and shortly after Kadaj was born, but Riku was never one to coo over pictures, so his interaction with his brother's new family had been minimal. He was busy with his own life, getting the grades that helped him maintain his scholarship for Radiant Gardens University, scraping together funds to support himself, making connections that would help him later in his career. So when he got a call in the middle of the night from a hospital saying there had been an accident, Riku had been unprepared for this sudden intrusion into his life. There had been a car accident. A drunk driver ran right through the light, smashing into the front of his brother's car. By the time help arrived, all there was were two mangled bodies and a crying toddler. Both of Kadaj's parents were announced dead at the scene, and the call Riku received was asking him only to identify the bodies. Riku had gone numb as soon as the person on the other end of the line told him, the following words just slipping away as they washed over his ears, paralyzed with shock. Riku may have not been that close to his brother anymore, but he was still the only family he had. Arriving at the hospital, he had froze in the entrance, wondering silently if he were to turn back now, pretend nothing had happened, if then none of it would be true, and he wouldn't have to deal with any of it. Some days Riku wished he had followed through on that impulse.

After identifying the bodies, he had to sit down quickly before gravity slammed his head to the floor. The face of the doctor that approached Riku soon after held nothing but sympathy. He began to ask Riku questions about himself, where he lived, what he did. Riku regained focus long enough to ask the doctor why he was asking these questions, which he seemed to being taking down on a notepad.

"I need to talk to you about the couple's son. We've found Sephiroth's will in our systems, and he's listed you as the primary caregiver for Kadaj, should something like this have happened."

Oh right. Seph's son. Riku's nephew.

"For now, we will be turning the child over to you, but you should know that due to your young age and current working condition, Child Services will be coming to determine if you are a suitable guardian for the child. If you are not deemed suitable, the child will be placed in foster care."

They talked some more, but before Riku knew it, has was being led to the hospital playroom, where a little boy with silver hair and green eyes was sitting in a corner, staring but not seeing. It struck Riku how much he had changed. The last time Riku has seen him, he had been a squabbling infant, fussy the moment Riku was forced to hold him, calm the minute his father picked him up. Now he was about two years old, bigger and much father along to looking like a person instead of a baby. Riku had no clue what to do.

Everything after that had been a big blur. Riku had to deal with everything at once, the funerals, the paperwork, the selling of Seph's eerily empty house, the moving of all Kadaj's stuff to Riku's newly rented apartment, the catching up on his schoolwork while he learned what a two year old needed to survive. Riku felt utterly alone. His few friends knew nothing about children, and Seph had just moved to into their old house, so there weren't even any neighbors to lend a hand. Books and the internet were the only way Riku hadn't had a complete breakdown, their artificial advice at least pointing him in the right direction. Riku had finally started to attend classes again this week, putting Kadaj into daycare. The bills threatened to drain every last drop from Riku's accounts, but the money that would soon come from the selling of the house and all of Seph's stuff would keep them afloat for a good while. Riku knew in some part of his brain that he ought to be concentrating more on Kadaj and this big change in his life, but the other part screamed that he couldn't let this opportunity to study slip away from him. An education was the only thing someone could never take away from you, and it was Riku's ticket to getting somewhere in this world. He wasn't going to be a deadbeat like his parents, he was going to use the chances Seph had fought to give him, and he was going to make something of himself.

Kadaj awoke with a start and immediately started crying. Riku was brought out of his gloomy thoughts and picked him up, trying to stifle the loud wails and fat tears that were leaking out of the little boy. These nightmares never failed to make Kadaj a wreck, and Riku didn't know what to do except hold the poor toddler and hope he'd be alright.

A/N: Voilà! I call it, backstory!

Hehe, sorry it took me so long. Apparently I can only write during the summer. Thanks so much to anyone who read the first chapter, I hope those of you who have this on watch will like the second chapter, even with it's doom and gloom. I'm going to try and update this a lot sooner this time. Any feedback is greatly appreciated!


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